The Walk
by jarta
Summary: Soubi is broke and needs a job. Being a model seems a good idea because of the high salary but how would he deal with unwanted popularity and keep Ritsuka away from prying eyes?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Loveless or any of its characters.

Well, here's another Loveless fanfic and this one is a much lighter story than the others I've posted. Im a bit tired of angsty story anyway. Enjoy!

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Agatsuma Soubi never had a problem with money. Its not because he has plenty of it but because he doesn't bother himself much with insignificant things (in his opinion), such as his financial status. He's a recipient of a special scholarship for the gifted and talented artists and receives a monthly allowance so he doesn't have to bother himself with paying tuition fees as long as he paints. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he is a special fighter and a former student of the Septimal Moon Academy, which has a lot of connections. Sometimes he works every now and then on a clothes thrift shop for a few months and then go back to his bumming ways, butterfly paintings and mooning over Aoyagi Seimei. Kio pointed out that he only wanted more time with Seimei and didn't care about his own well-being. The fighter didn't deny it. 

Seimei died and Soubi found himself lost, lifeless and numbed with grief. But, he knew he couldn't die when his master and sacrifice, Beloved, has given him his last order. That's why, one day, when he had roused himself from his mourning, he found himself staring down at Seimei's younger brother, the 12-year-old amnesiac Aoyagi Ritsuka. Suddenly, he has a new reason to live. He began to eat again, a necessity he had neglected on his period of mourning and started painting again his most hated subject, butterflies. They remind him of his self.

Soubi doesn't bother himself with trivial things such as money and only fills his head with thoughts of Ritsuka, butterflies and spell words.

But fate decided to intervene and amuse itself.

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Soubi stared at his wallet, willing it to suddenly procure a miracle, producing money perhaps. Even just a few yen enough to pay for Ritsuka's ice cream. The wallet mockingly remained empty. 

"Soubi?" Ritsuka's voice called to him and Soubi had no choice but to look uncertainly on his 12-year-old sacrifice, who was already licking off his chocolate ice cream. Soubi barely managed to control any wince or twitch his facial muscles wanted to do. He thought of Kio and decided to call his friend to borrow some money. He'll just have to pay Kio back when he receives his monthly allowance, which is still next week. Soubi nearly panicked when he thought of how he could treat and date Ritsuka within the week when he doesn't have money.

Soubi calmed himself and smiled his fake reassuring smile at Ritsuka. First thing first, he needed to find money for the ice cream. The ice cream vendor was eyeing him warily, when Soubi flipped on his phone and dialed Kio's number.

The other line rang for a moment before it was answered.

"Moshi moshi," a girl's voice answered and Soubi frowned as he wondered if he dialed the wrong number.

"Where's Kio?"

"Agatsuma-kun!" the girl on the other line swooned. "It's Mina!"

"Mina?" he asked confusedly wondering if he should know who Mina is.

"Yeah, Mina. One of your classmate on a few of your classes," the girl reminded him somewhat dejectedly. "Actually, we're supposed to be doing our group project on my house but you didn't come and Kio left already. He forgot his phone here."

"A-ah," Soubi replied nonchalantly but inside he was hysterical. How the heck could he contact Kio then? Where would he get money?

Someone poked him at his hip and he looked at it and saw Ritsuka an ice cream on each hand. Two?! He couldn't even pay for one!

"I already paid for it," Ritsuka told him quietly and offered him the other ice cream. Dazed, Soubi accepted it and watched Ritsuka sauntered towards a park bench.

"Agatsuma-kun? Agatsuma-kun?" the girl's voice on his phone broke his stupor.

"Never mind," he replied and hung up. He approached Ritsuka who was already sitting, eating his ice cream and seemingly engrossed on watching a lady who was cooing over a baby on a pink stroller.

Standing beside the bench stupidly, Soubi awaited in silence, not aware of his surroundings but only Ritsuka. He didn't even notice when his ice cream began to melt and drip all over his hands. Finally, Ritsuka finished his ice cream and threw the cone and tissue on the nearby trashcan. He looked up at the blond man and tried to reassure him.

"Its only ice cream"

Soubi decided that he needed a job as soon as possible and prevent this situation from happening ever again.

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Review please! 


	2. Chapter 1a

Author's Note: Yo! I'm back! It has been months since I've posted this story and months of reading tons of fanfics and bumming around. Chapter 1 is supposed to be longer that this but I'm too lazy to type all of it at once so basically this is one-half Chapter1. This is story is supposed to be humor genre and me wanting Soubi to have a job like normal people do and being a model is just one random idea to create an interesting plot where Soubi is popular and have to hide from the public the fact that he was in love with a 12-year-old boy or else be labeled as a homosexual pedophile. It just kept slipping into drama.

Anyway, I just want you to know I hate pedophiles and think they are the worst scums on earth. I just like Soubi because he had said that he would wait for Ritsuka for a few more years. And who can't help falling for this guy? So don't expect any "stuffs" between them here except kisses.

Soubi won't be a model until further updates.

Thanks for those who reviewed here. You know who you are and I LOVE YOU!

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**Chapter 1.1**

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"So, Soubi-kun," the woman leaned over the counter exposing and emphasizing her assets from within her white tube top. Taking off her shades, she eyed Soubi seductively, "I heard you're an art student, care to paint me…nude?" 

Soubi wondered where the hell did all those people have heard about him, trying to ignore the choking sounds coming from his fellow co-worker who has overheard her. As he punched in the prices on the cash register, he though back about the number of customers they had who tried to flirt with him and somehow gotten hold of information on his background, such as his name, his age and his interests.

"That would be 9,567 yen," Soubi informed their customer smiling courteously.

An eyebrow rose up, the woman glared at the blond cashier for a few seconds before sighing and rolling her eyes. She isn't stupid not to notice his blatant dismissal of her.

"Can't blame a girl for trying," she told him paying up for the clothes she bought. She flipped her hair at him and smirked before leaving, swaying her hips as if to remind him of what he had missed. Too bad though, Soubi never noticed this as his mind had wandered over a certain 12-year-old, dark-haired boy. Soubi looked down at his watch. By this time, Ritsuka would still be at school. He suddenly has a strong urge to see Ritsuka's face. It has been a week since they saw each other and although they had talked on the phone every night, he still terribly missed his sacrifice. He would have to drop by Ritsuka's place later, he decided, hoping that he could still "borrow" (without permission) the Aoyagi's ladder to climb the balcony.

'_Huh'_ something hit him on the head effectively cutting off his thoughts. He looked down to see a teddy bear near his feet where it fell after interrupting him on his one of his _"Ritsuka-related-broodings"_

"Sou-chan shouldn't be daydreaming at work," a sweet voice admonished him and he turned around to see a little girl dressed in a ridiculously cute pink dress and a ridiculously cute frowning expression. Soubi picked up the teddy bear and return it to her.

"Sumimasen"

The blond fighter knew not to cross this cute little girl who is actually his 31-year-old-midget-_okama_-employer(1). This employer of his might be puny but a formidable sacrifice who is part of a pair widely known in Japan to people who knew their world.

"But you shouldn't throw Kuma-chan around or he might get mad at you, Hanamoto-san," Soubi told "him" before returning back to his work and facing the awaiting customer who was blushing and stuttering at the presence of a gorgeous blond man. The fighter felt a slight satisfaction as he heard the desperate pleas for forgiveness of his employer from the teddy bear.

"A-a-arigato!" stuttered the customer who practically fled once she's done purchasing, too shy and too embarrassed.

A guy dressed in tight leather stepped forward, placing his items on the counter and eyeing Soubi like some piece of meat. A very juicy piece of meat, Soubi believed since he just saw the guy licked his own lips. The blond-fighter-turned-cashier sighed defeatedly, he still has a few hours to go before his shift ends.

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Ritsuka winced as his mother pulled the remaining shard of glass embedded on the palm of his hand. No matter how many times it had happened to him, Ritsuka wondered why he still wasn't used to the pain, although he could control his reactions. 

When Seimei was alive, similar scenarios had happened that had prompted his brother to dispose any glasses, ceramics or breakable objects inside the house. But now that he's dead no one could take precautions such as that for Ritsuka's safety. The young Aoyagi could certainly not prevent his mother from buying such stuffs that seems fond of breaking on her fits of hysterics and Ritsuka has the knack on falling towards them whenever her mother pushes him or slaps him.

Biting his lower lip, Ritsuka quietly waited for his mother to finish treating his wounds. This is a natural occurrence on the Aoyagi household. His mother would beat him when she find or notice something un-Ritsuka(her mother still clung on the previous Ritsuka he was before he got amnesia) on him and then profusely begged him afterwards for forgiveness. When he would say its okay, his mother would then proceed to treat the wounds and bruises she caused. Looking down at his hand now being bandaged, he knew they would leave scars. Small, thin, white scars, unnoticeable since his skin was so pale. But it would still be there, like any other scars on his body he had acquired, if one closely inspects it.

Ritsuka thought he should still be grateful that he could hide most of them under his clothes and whatever wounds he might have that he can't prevent others from seeing can be pass off as a result of some random accidents. That had earned the boy a rather infamous reputation for being clumsy and accident-prone.

"You!" his mother shrieked, and Ritsuka wasn't surprised when his hair was pulled back painfully, forcing him to look up at the wild and crazed expression on his mother's face.

"Don't ever see that adult again!" Misaki hissed. "Ritsuka should never talk with adult stranger."

"Y-yes Mom," Ritsuka replied, trembling. Despite the fact that he should get used to it, he couldn't control the slight fear that crawls through his skin. Seemingly satisfied, Misaki let go of her grip on him and carressed his cheeks dazedly before hugging her son tightly that the boy could barely breathe.

"I won't let anyone take Ritsuka away from me!" she declared her eyes determined yet unfocused.

-----tbc-----

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(1)_ okama_ - japanese term for crossdresser

The amount of reviews would decide on how fast I should update!

I want Reviews!!!!!


	3. Chapter 1b

A/N: Here's the last part of Chapter1! Sorry for the slow update. I've just been awfully busy. I've introduced OC and you'll be expecting more OC here but don't worry, I assure you there will be no Mary Sues or Gary Stus here, since I really hate them.

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Chapter 1.2

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It was almost an hour past since his mother had left him alone. Ritsuka had locked himself on his bedroom, trying to get over the tensed scene that happened downstairs. His mother's beatings had been more and more infrequent and he really thought that it wouldn't be long for them to heal their relationship and start anew. He should have been more careful, Ritsuka knew that. Now he wasn't sure what would happen.

Knocking sounds startled Ritsuka and for a second he thought it was his mother before his mind registered that its was coming from his balcony. Sighing dejectedly, he got up from his bed and walked across the room and pushed aside the curtains. The boy wasn't surprised to see the smiling face of his fighter on the other side. Ritsuka contemplated the rationality of letting the man in when Soubi noticed Ritsuka's bandaged hand and newly formed bruises. Narrowing his eyes, he tried to calm his anger and worries. He can't do anything about it of course, since one of the few orders that his sacrifice had given him is not to meddle with the Aoyagi affairs. Shuffling through his grocery bag he was carrying, he found what he was looking for that might cheer the boy up and showed it to Ritsuka.

Ritsuka's eyebrow twitched. The boy wondered if he should have heed Kio's warning of Soubi no matter how harmless it seemed then. Candy to get the attention of a gullible child. _'Soubi sure follows the unwritten rule about pedophiles,'_ Ritsuka thought as he stared at the chocolate pocky that Soubi was waving on his face.

'_But then again,'_ Ritsuka slid the glass door open. _'I can't consider myself gullible and innocent as other kids.'_

The glass door slid closed. The grocery bag fell on the floor and the blond fighter dropped on his knees in front of his master, hugging the boy tightly, his nose buried at Risuka's neck, inhaling the scent that is uniquely Ritsuka.

"Itai!" Ritsuka yelped in pain that Soubi immediately let go of him. The boy's poor bandaged hand had been caught and crushed between them. Soubi gently cradled Ritsuka's hand.

"I'm sorry," the young man murmured and kissed the injured hand causing Ritsuka to blush. Soubi smiled at the boy's flushed face. "I just miss you a lot."

If possible, Ritsuka blushed more and looked away in embarrassment. "We just saw each other the other day and you always called me every night."

"I still miss you though, and I tried calling you a while ago," Soubi told him. "Have you turned off your phone?"

Ritsuka tensed, his tail swishing nervously behind him. He pulled away from Soubi and walked toward his bed.

Soubi's gaze followed the boy as he sat down on the bed, noting the change of demeanor and refusal to meet his eyes.

"Mother saw the phone and our pictures on it," Ritsuka confessed as Soubi's expression smoothed out and became unreadable. "She doesn't like me having adult friends and broke the phone."

Silence stretched out between them as Ritsuka nervously waited for Soubi's reaction. He nearly jumped in surprise when he heard the man spoke in a flat voice.

"Are you going to order me not to see you anymore?"

"I-it's not that," Ritsuka stammered. "We should just be more careful and maybe don't come here for a while. Just see me at the school or outside. Just not here."

Soubi sighed and stared down at the pocky box that he was still holding. He approached the boy and offered him the treat.

Ritsuka stared at the pocky box for a moment before accepting it. He looked up at Soubi exasperatedly, "You sure you aren't a pedophile?"

Soubi smiled, "I'm willing to wait, until you grow up, aren't I?"

"But you steal kisses everytime," Ristuka mumbled, fumbling to open the box.

"True," Soubi agreed, kneeling down in front of the boy to steal one.

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-----------

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_Rubber Ducky, you're the one,  
__You make bathtime lots of fun,  
__Rubber Ducky, I'm awfully fond of you;_

_Woo woo be doo_

_Rubber Ducky, joy of joys,  
__When I squeeze you, you make noise!  
__Rubber Ducky, you're my very best friend, it's true!_

_Doo doo doo-------_

"What do you mean you fired him?!"

Hanamoto Aki also known as Aki-chan blinked. He was in the bathtub taking his nightly bath, minding his own business and playing with his yellow rubber ducky when he heard his fighter screeched. He kept silent trying to eavesdrop, wondering what had made Megumi angry. He doesn't really need to try though since Megumi's voice was loud enough to be heard by their neighbors.

"I don't care if he cheated on you, Tsubasa! You shouldn't have pursued him in the first place!"

Aki-chan lips quirked in amusement. Really, he considered anyone's story and secrets trully fascinating, especially if he could use it for blackmail. Squeezing his rubber ducky for good luck, he hoped there's something interesting that would happen. He had been bored recently.

"_Baka! _The fashion show's tomorrow! How could you expect me to find another lead male model!"

An eyebrow raised, Aki-chan contemplated on what he had heard. Outside, Megumi slammed the phone down on the receiver and screamed bloody murder.

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--To be Continued---

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I want reviews! 


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